Office of Planning & Zoning

Office of Planning & Zoning

Welcome to the Office of Planning & Zoning.

This Office is responsible for administering and enforcing Zoning Ordinances under Chapter 255 - Land Development of the Township Code Book. 

This includes all Zoning Permit Applications and all applications submitted to the Township’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Office is also responsible for investigating violations and enforcing the Land Use code.

Permit applications and many other resources can be found on the Applications, Maps and Resources page.

Please always feel free to visit our office to discuss any zoning questions, concerns or clarification that you might need. We continue to add to our FAQ's Page which we hope will answer many of your questions, but we also welcome feedback and special requests for any new content you would like to see added to our Page.

We are here to help the resident's of Cranford in any way we can!

Email:
Kathleen Nemeth, Zoning Officer
k-nemeth@cranfordnj.org
Ruth Nicholas, Assistant Zoning Officer
r-nicholas@cranfordnj.org

Bee Happy

So what does Zoning do?

In a nutshell, Zoning...

  • Regulates land use by dividing a municipality into districts;
  • Establishes permitted land uses for each district, regulating how buildings and land may be used...whether for residential, industrial, or commercial;
  • Regulates lot size, density or bulk, height, and floor area ratio (FAR), defines setbacks, and limitations on building in flood plains taking into consideration the Township's safety and resilience;
  • Oversees approvals for change of use or development proposals, subdivision of land, construction of new buildings, and other changes to the land;
  • Reviews and recommends amendments to the Land Development Ordinance.

So why do we need Zoning?

Simply put...because as a society we love to build!

We build homes, thriving down towns, sprawling neighborhoods, rising cities...and every building built, every road paved, is yet another blade of grass covered, another tree removed, and another open space gone.

But to go deeper into the "why" we need to truly understand how this all began.

A quick look back at history lets us know that zoning laws came into effect out of pure necessity. Between 1890 and 1920 there was a significant increase in urban populations, not only due to the influx of immigrants arriving in America's cities but because of the shift from rural to an industrial economy.

It was in New York City, as overcrowded and unhealthy living conditions in the lower east side tenement district became rampant, that the very first Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1916.

It was clear to the city fathers that in order to improve the quality of life for their citizens they needed to control the size, use, and location of buildings.

They based their new laws on two guiding principles, which remain the foundation of every zoning code in existence today;

  1. Create districts where similar uses would be appropriately located to prevent haphazard development.
  2. Control building size (bulk) to maximize light, air and public space.
NY Zoning Map 2016
Over-sized map from a portfolio titled, “Height / July 25, 1916.” In the “2½" zone, in Lower Manhattan, buildings could rise without setback two and a half times the width of the street that they fronted.

(Credit...Santiago Mejia/The New York Times)

We hope that this brief history helps clarify the "why" of zoning.

Born out of necessity, zoning is ultimately what ensures the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the society it supports.

Staff Contacts

Name Title Phone
Ruth Nicholas Assistant Zoning Officer (908) 709-3984
Kathleen Nemeth Zoning Officer (908) 709-7216